Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has formed a three-member inquiry committee to investigate alleged irregularities in the leasing of Port Qasim Authority (PQA) land. The decision follows revelations by Senator Faisal Vawda, who claimed the land was leased at significantly undervalued rates during the current administration’s tenure.
According to an official notification, the land in question was designated for a small and medium industrial park. The committee has been tasked with examining financial irregularities in the leasing process.
The panel will be led by the chairman of the prime minister’s inspection commission, who will serve as convener, with Intelligence Bureau (IB) Director Sirajuddin Amjad and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director Syed Shahid Hussain as members.
A key mandate of the committee is to assess PQA’s legal approach in seeking the lease’s cancellation, including efforts to challenge a stay order preventing its revocation. The panel will also review the considerations behind PQA Board’s decision to pursue an out-of-court settlement with the claimant.
Additionally, the inquiry will examine legal opinions that supported the settlement, determine whether the land’s value was reassessed before finalizing the deal, and verify if prevailing market rates were factored into the decision.
The committee will investigate why the settlement offer was not withdrawn when the claimant refused it and identify governance issues that contributed to delays in the process. If needed, additional members may be co-opted to assist in the inquiry. The Ministry of Maritime Affairs will provide secretarial support. The committee has been directed to submit its report within two weeks.
Last week, Senator Faisal Vawda, chairman of the Senate Committee on Maritime Affairs, unveiled an alleged Rs60 billion corruption scandal, blaming a federal minister for “criminal negligence.”
Vawda accused Maritime Affairs Minister Qaisar Sheikh of failing to prevent the irregularities. He claimed that the deal was abruptly scrapped within 72 hours and that an official denial was issued in lesser-known publications. According to him, land valued at millions per acre was leased for as little as Rs800,000 to Rs1 million.
